Electbic eubhtace



A. JONES.

ELECTRIC FURNACE. v APPucATxoN FILED Mula. 1920.

Patented May 2, 1922.

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INVEN TOR A. JONES ATTORNEY A. IONES.

ELECTRIC FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY13,1920.

Patented MAy-2,1922.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTon AJQNES BY @5A/AAW Y l ATTORNEY lll.

A. JONES. ELECTRIC TuRNAc. APPLICATIONv man MAY '13. 1920.

mvENTon MONTS a? NT ATTORNEY A. JONES.

ELECTRIC FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYIS, i920.

1,414,362', l Patented May 2, 1922.`

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'L -1" 48 8 45 l 51` I 46 47 INVENTOR A. JONES f .ATTORNEY A. JONES.

ELECTRIC FURNACE.

APPLICATION man .MAY 1s, 1920.

1 ,414,362, Patented May 2, 1922.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

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WWW/WW mvENToR A. Jonas www ATTGRNEY ARTHUR JoNEs, or BELLEVILLE, ILLiiioI's'.

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- Application inea May is,

T aZZwzom t concern: i i Be it known that I, ARTHUR JONES, a citi- Zen ofthe'llnited States of America, resid- .i ing at Belleville,county of St. Clair, State of Illinois7 U. S.' A., have invented a certain new and useful Electric Furnace, of'which the following'is such a full7 clear, and exact description as will enable any one skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same7 reference being' had to the accompanying drawings, forming part -of this specification. c My invention relates to anelectric furnace Y and more particularlyy to that type of furnace in whichA the' melting chamben is ca'- pable of rotation oira horizontal axis during the operation of sinelting and is also rotatable in a vertical plane todischarge the metal. Many of the features of -my vinvention however are applicable to other typesk of electric furnaces.

yso

' control the arc.

One object of my inventionis to provide means for rotating the electrodes of an electric furnace in order to prevent the elec-y r trodesgfrornv becoming cemented in their bearings by thecondensed kfumes of volatile metalssuch as zinc. Such rotation of the electrodes also lprevents the possibility ofy the eletrodesy sagging shouldl they become soft under the intense heat of the furnace, and taken in `connection with the proper angular disposition Vofthe carbons also maintains proper points upon. carbons and thus maintains the arc in the proper position. Another object ofiny invention is to provide improved means for feeding the carbone to Anotherfobject of my invention is to providei'improved means for cooling the 'carbon holders.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one form of electric furnace made in accordance with my invention VFigurel .is a horizontalcentral section. Figure 2 is side elevatiom'the carbon feeding mechanism being broken away. Figuresl 3 and 4lare enlarged views showing details of construction. Figure 5fisl a section taken on the line 5;-5 of Figure 2. Figure 6 is an renlargeddetailed Vview* of the carbon feed ing' mechanism 'showings a modification for controlling thefeedelectrically. Figure 7 is an vend view of the parts shown in Figure y6. Figure 8 is an enlarged section takenfon y theiline 8-8 `of Figure 6. Figure 9 is'a section taken on thevliiie 9-9-of Figure 8, the 'carbon being omitted. Figure 10 kisv a ELECTRIC FURNACE.

kSpecicationY of Letters Patent.

Patented May?, 1922. 1920. serial No. scosse. i

view similar to Figure 7 but showing manually operated'means for controlling the feed. Figure 11 is a diagrammatic view illustrating theV water cooling system, and Figure l12 isa detail View showing the automatic stop for the electrode feeding mechanism.

The furnace is supported by any suitable means such for instance as the two standards in which are journaled trunnions l1 and 12 respectively. The trunnions 11 and 1.2

carry crossy bars '13 on which. are mounted' a pair of annularjmembers Alet in which are j ournaled wheels 15 supporting the body of a furnace. The body of the furnace consists ofva central sleeve 16 and' end pieces 17 and 18 respectively bolted thereto and each provided with a flange 19, forming a track for engaging with the wheels 15 in the corre# sponding annular members lef The end piece 18' is preferably formed of two parts bolted together at 20 as best shown in Figure l of the drawings. The bodyof the furnace is provided with theusual lining 21 of lire clay or` other factory material vand has its rear end substantially hemispherical inform as shown at 22, the front end being provided with a charging portion orifice QSclOsedby a door 24. A heat insulating lining'Q is o preferably placed betweenthe lining h21 at the shell of the furnace. Secured to the central part 16 of the shell is a bevel gear 26 meshing with a bevel gear?? carried on the sleeve 28.VA Passing through the trunnion 11 Vand having secured to it a worin wheel 29 and engaging with a worm 30 carried on it with the uprights 10 as best shown in Figure 3. The Lworin 30 is revolved by gearing 31 driven from any source of power so as to continuously rotate the furnace on its vlongitudinal axis during the operationV of smelting. The wheels 15 hereinabove referred to areshown as provided with'single flange. ln case the distance betweenthe'tracks 19 is considerable it is desirableto have wheels 15a on lone of the tracks provided with two` flanges as shown in Figure e of the drawings so that the expansion and contraction of the furnace shell will notthrow the slip rings hereafter to Vbe described out of relative position. The furnace is provided with carbon electrodes which as shown in the drawing aretwo innumber.. The number however may bevaried. The electrodes 35 are arrangedA at an angle to each other as lbest shown in Figure l of the drawings and the points are arranged to meetsubstantially in the center of the hemispherically rear end of the melt-ingehamber. Each of the, carbons 35 passes through a split sleeve 36 as best shown in Figures 8 and 9 which sleeve is adapted to be clamped against the carbon by means of threaded rings 37 and 38 which rings move said sleeve 36 longitudinally relative to a surrounding collar 39, the contacting surface of the parts 36 and 39 being cone shapedV as shown in Figure 9 of the dra-wings. The collar 39 is carried by a casing 40 having a chamber 41 forming a water jacket. Secured to the casing 40 are bearings 42, 43, 44, and respectively. ln the `bearing 45 is journaled a sleeve 46 having alrey connection to the shaft 47. The sleeve 46 carries a gear wheel 48 meshing with a gear wheel 49 securedto the sleeve 39 hereinbefore described. ln order to prevent short cireuiting of the device one or more of the gear wheels 48 and 49 are made of insulating material. T he sleeve 46 is prevented from moving longitudinally with relativity to the bearing 45 by the gear wheel 48 and a collar 46. The inner end of the shaft 47 is provided with a beveled gear wheel 50 meshing with a wheel 51 driven from a motor 52 by means of gearing 53 as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. The outer end of the shaft 47 .is journaled in an annular member 54 and is provided with a pair of beveled gear wheels 55 turning loosely on it and 'meshing with beveled gear wheel 56. Keyed to the shaft 47 between the wheels 55 is a friction clutch 74 adapted to engage with eitherA of said wheels 55. ln order to feed the carbon forward or backward this beveled gear wheel 56 is mounted on one end of a shaft 57. The opposite end of which carries a beveled gear wheel 58 meshing with a wheel 59 secured on the end of a threaded rod 60 passing tlnough the bearing 44 which is correspondingly threaded so that the rotation of the rod 60 will feed the casing 40 with its attached carbon toward or away from the central point of the furnace. VThe bearing 43 surrounds a rod 61, adapted to carry the current to the electrode. This rod 61 is preferably insulated from the annular member 54 and an annular member 62 carrying the opposite end of the rod by insulating bushings 63. 64 is a binding post for conveying the current to the` rod 61. The bearing 42 surrouiuls a rod 65 which merely serves as a-guide for the member 40. The bearings 42, 474, and 46 l(il) are insulated from the member 40 by insulating plates `66. One or vthe other of the beveled gear wheels 55 is adapted to be operatively connected with uthe gear wheel 56 either automatically by a pair of electromagnets 68 acting upon a lever 69 engaging with it clutch ,74 .or manually by moving a handle 70, (Figure 10) actuating a lever 71 to shift the said clutch 74. TWhether the Vclutch 74 is operated automatically by the electromagnets 68 or manually it is desirable to throw the feeding mechanism out of gear automatically when the member 40 has traveled to a point adjacent to either the annular member 54er the annular member 62. This I may accomplish by means of a mechanism shown in Figure 12 in which the shaft 65 is made hollow and contains a rod 72 having projecting fingers 73 adapted to be struck by the member 40 to automatically move the lever 71.

The current may be carried to the carbons 35 by means of slip rings Ti' held by any suitable mechanism not shown7 in the end of the trunnion 12 and making contact with conductors 76 passing through the said trunnion and bearing on slip rings 7 car ried by the cylindrical portieri 16 of the shell. lFrom the slip rings the current is carried to the binding post 64 hereinbeforc referred to by wires, not shown, The trunnion 12 is provided with a worm wheel 7 driven in a. manner similar to the worm Wheel 29 hereinbefore described when iet is desired to turn the furnace upon the trunnions 11 and 12.

Tn order to cool the carbons and the carbon holders l provide water pipe. 79 passing through the sleeve and connected with the compartments of a duplex water chamber as best shown in Figure 1l. duplex water chamber con of an outer annular member 8O carried from onel of theI members 14 by means of brackets 8l and au inner annular member 82 provided with a partition 83 and carried from the part 17 of the. furnace shell by brackets 84. `From this duplex annular chamber the water is carried through coils snrrmunlingv the carbone within the furnace lining and through the water jacket 41 to and from which the water conducti-ul by means of flexible pipes 86 as shown in Figure 11.

The operation of my furnace as follows The furnace charged through the opening while in horizontal position thus obviating danger of injuring the carbons 35. After the furnace is cha g l and the door 24 closed current is passed through the electrodes 35 forming an arc between the points of the said electrodes: substantially in the center of. the curved rear end of the combustion chamber. This arc is controlled either automatically or manually by moving the carbone` toward and away from this central point by the mechanism hereinbefore described. Vilhether the ca-rbons are being fed forward or backward or are longitudinally stationary they are continually revolved by means of the motor 52. Such rotary movement of the `carbon prevents the carbone from being cemented into their bearings by the fumes of volatile metals, such as zinc.

This

lill) rThis rotation of the carbone also Vprevents the carbons from sagging-down when they are softened by the hea-t of the furnacev and alsopreserves the shape of the points of the carbon so that the arccan bep-roperly controlled. It is to benoted that the carboneV revolve in the same direction whethervbeingY fed forward or backward so that in case of long carbons formed oftwo or more parte' there is no tendency to unscrew the joints of the carbon when feeding in either direction. f

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by -Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

l. In an electric furnace, the combination with a melting chamber of a plurality of electrodes angularly arranged with relation to each other and means for rotating said electrodes during the operation of the furnace to maintain `the form of the electrode points. Y

2. In an electric lfurnace,.the combination with a melting chamber,l of an electrode projecting into said chamber, means for continuously rotating' said electrode duringthe op# eration of the furnace, reversible electrode feeding mechanism and means for throwing Said feeding mechanism into and out of op; erative relation with said electrode feeding mechanism whereby the electrode is rotated in the same direction when feeding in either direction.

3. In an electric furnace, the combina-tion through said integral end and arranged at' an angle toeach other to produce between them anV arc approximately in the center of curvature of said end.

5. In an electric furnace, the'combination with a. melting chamber having a'closed end,

of electrodes projectingthrough theclosed end for producing an varc between them ad.-

jacent thereto, said chamber being provided with a charging aperture at the opposite end.

6. rIlhe combination with a rotating electric furnace, a tilting frame in which Said furnace is mounted, a duplex annular cham- A ber carried by one ofsaidparts and having sliding contact with a'member carriedhy the other of said parts, and electrode for Said furnace and water cooling connections for said electrode comprising said duplex an nular chamber. f

v7. In anelectric furnace, the combination with a melting chamber, of an electrode pro- 'jecting into said chamber, means for rotating said electrode during the operation of the furnace, feeding mechanism for saith electrode said feeding mechanism being reversible independent of said rotating means, and automatic means for limiting the movement of said feeding mechanism in either direction,

8. In an electric furnace, the combination with-melting chamber, of a plurality of' electrodes projecting into said chamber,

means forfrotating `said electrodes during the operation of the furnace, independent feeding mechanism for each electrode, and means for operating said feeding mechanism from saidl electrode rotating mechanism.

9. In an electric furnace, the combination with a melting chamber having a closed end,V

of a Yplurality of electrodesprojecting through said closed end and arranged at an angle to each other toproduce an arc ad]- acent to said closed end, said chamber being 'provided with a charging aperture at the opposite end. n

10. In an electric furnace, the combination with a melting chamber having a closed end, of a plurality of electrodes arranged at an angley to each other for producing an arc `adjacent to said closed end, and means for rotating said electrode during the operation of the furnace to maintain the shape of their points, said chamber being provided with va charging aperture at the opposite end,v

Inl testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal. Y Y

ARTHUR JONES. [1.. S.] 

